Holy HELL what just happened. Yeah, you were teasing her but...you didn't think she'd just cave like that. You hold your hand up to your mouth. She just... Holy shit.
Your heart is still pounding in your chest. You can hear Twilight yelling at Velvet from the other side of the door. Not SCREAMING, but she sounds upset. Its a faint voice, so you can't make out what she's saying, exactly.
Giving it a couple more seconds of thought, you start walking. Your brain is on auto-pilot right now...all of your attention is focused on replaying that situation over and over in your head.
Man, calm down. She just pecked your lips. That's it. And she was pressured into doing it. Its not like she likes you or anything.
You breathe in and out deeply, calming yourself down.
Trying to take your mind off of it, you pull out your phone and start tapping away on it... Fuck. That seriously just happened. You can't get it out of your head.
Velvet was pretty funny. Twilight is great, but.... She doesn't make you laugh.
Even though Twilight literally just kissed you, Velvet still invades your mind.
She's single. And she called you a man. Not a boy.
You're starting to get a bit of a confidence boost.
Either way, you've got a lot of reading to do.

The weekend passes quickly.
Monday comes quickly.
You're excited to talk to Twilight about the reading you've done. Sitting at your desk in your final class, you stare at the clock. Come ON, I want to get out of here.
Your class is boring. Very uninteresting. You wait in great anticipation for the final bell.
RIIIIIING
FUCK FINALLY! You gather your things and rush to the librar-
Cheerlie.
You pace screeches to a dead halt. ...You think for a moment. Does she tutor on Mondays...? You're not really sure... Oh come on, would it be that big of a deal if you saw her? No. She wasn't a bitch to you or anything.
Preparing yourself mentally, you pick your pace back up to a normal walk...not as excited as you were just seconds ago. You mentally cross your fingers as you approach the library... Please don't be there....
Opening up the large wooden library doors, you peer inside to see who's there.
No sign of her. Alright. So far so goo-
"Hi, Anon!"
Wha.... You turn around.
There stands Cheerilee, as happy and bright-eyed as ever.
"Oh...heh, H-Hi, Ms. Cheerilee" you stammer out, your stomach tied in a thousand knots. She walks past you and into the library.
"How have you been doing, Anon?" she asks. You walk behind her.
"Oh, you know...daily routine. I'm fine."
"Glad to hear it, Anon."
She turns around and faces you, glancing around the room a few times. "I didn't know if you would take what I said on Friday very well..." she says, facing getting a bit red. You shake your head, putting your open palms in front of you and shaking them as well.
"No, no, I understand where you were coming from...I know it also came out of nowhere, so I couldn't really blame you for reacting the way you did."
She smiles. "I'm glad that you understand."
A student walks in. "Hey, Ms. Cheerilee!"
"Good afternoon! Have a seat and I'll be with you in a moment."
The student nods and goes to sit somewhere. She looks back towards you.
"Anon, I also just wanted you to understand that I didn't turn you down was because I didn't think you were a good person...ooor because I think you're unattractive."
She thinks you're attractive? Well, she could just be lying through her teeth.
Either way, mental fist bump.
"Its just that I'm probably almost double your age...and, well, I don't think it would work out."
Its like she's just turning you down a second time. Now that she's saying this, you can't help but feel as if it would have been better had she just kept to herself. You look off to the side, a feeling of rejection festering in you as she speaks more or less the same words as on Friday.
She notices. "Anon? Are you alright?"
You clench your fists, frustrated with the situation. Hiding your feelings, you look towards her and force a smile. "Uhh, yeah, I'm fine..."
She smiles...in a bitter way. She continues, "I think you're a wonderful person, Anon...with a lot to give."
"Well then give me a chance." you blurt out.
Its true, Velvet had given you quite a surprise yesterday, but you aren't about to pass up the chance to at least talk to Cheerilee about this.
"Anon...I just don't think people would-"
"Why do you care what anyone thinks? Its your choice."
She looks at you, feeling unsure of herself. "Anon, I don't want to talk about this here."
"Alright, then give me your number and we'll talk about it privately."
She fidgets, uncomfortable with what is happening. "Anon, you're in a school surrounded by young women who are much more attractive than me...I don't understand why you would even bother with me."
You sigh and put your open palm over your face.
Looking back up at her you say, "I like who you are. Your happiness is just contagious to me. In a way that no one else’s is. Would you just accept that I feel this way about you, and not for any of the 'younger' girls here and just give me a chance?"
"Anon...I'm sorry. I just can't..."
You look away, confused as to why she's still turning you down.
"Alright. Fine." You turn around and go to leave.
She's still got to teach the student who came in, and you don't want to be around her after this. "Anon, wait!" she calls out.
You ignore her.
As you leave the library and turn to towards the stairs to leave, you notice Twilight coming down the hallway. You walk past her quickly, not giving her a glance.
"Anon?" she asks. "Anon? You alright?"
"I'm fine, thanks for asking." you say dismissively.
"Well...you don't look fine." she says in a louder tone, you gaining distance from her. You feel bad for leaving her hanging like this...
But you just want to get away from that situation. Turned down. Again. Why didn't she just leave you alone? You quickly move down the stairs.
You just can't believe this shit. You're about halfway down the stairs when you hear Twilight call out for you.
"Anon!" She's standing at the top of the stairs.
As you reach the bottom, you look up towards her.
"Anon? I thought we were going to talk about our books..." she says sadly. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No. Its fine...I'm going home." She's silent, but comes down the steps to meet you.
"Anon? Whats wrong?"
"We don't even know each other. What do you care?"You don't mean what you're saying...but you're angry.
"Is this because of..."
She silent. "The ki-"
"No. Thats not it."
"Well don't make me guess!"
"I won't." You turn to leave.
"Anon..." she says.
You ignore her and walk out the front doors of the school.
As you reach the top of the steps, you stop yourself. What are you doing? Don't be an asshole to her just because Cheerilee opened the still healing wound she gave you.
You sigh angrily, frustrated with whats going on. You hear one of the doors behind you open.
Twilight stands behind you silently for a few moments.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"You know...you can talk to me. I know we haven't known each other that long, but...I want to help if I can."
You sigh. "Its just Cheerilee."
"Oh. She was there?"
You nod. "Yeah, she gave me pretty much the same treatment as last time."
"Oh...Well how did it come up?"
"She approached me about it...and it just kind of snow balled into this."
You turn to face her. "Sorry."
She shakes her head. "You don't have to apologize to me...I understand."
There’s an awkward silence. You face away from her and look towards the statue and the front area of the school.
"I'm guessing you probably don't want to hang out today..."
"Not particularly."
"I understand. Well...you can call me or text me if you want."
"Alright."
You start making your way down the steps.
"Anon!"
You turn around to face her.
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to come by my place this weekend?"
You raise your eyebrow. "What for?"
"Well, my Mom liked you so much she wanted me to invite you over for dinner."
What is that woman up to?
"I mean..." Twilight notices your reluctance. "I know you probably don't want to go," she says coming down the stairs. "But you guys seemed to really get along."
"Yeah. She's great."
She gives you a bittersweet smile. "Not to say that you're not great...she's great...you're both great..."
She laughs at your awkward attempt to even your wording out. "Its okay, Anon. I get what you mean."
Silence falls for a moment.
"Sure."
"Really?" she says, excited.
You give her a weird look, her being a little too excited for your reciprocation.
"O-Oh! I just...my Mom really wanted you to swing by again...So..."
Obviously just trying to hook you and Twilight up....
You shrug. "Like I said, sure. I guess. Should I dress fancy?"
"Nope! Come as is!"
Maybe this is a sign. That whole thing went down, but here’s Twilight inviting you back to her house
"Alright, well...I'll talk to you later, Twilight."
"I talked to the band!" she says as you start walking away.
"Oh?" You say, facing her again.
"Yeah! They said it would be alright if you came to one of our practices."
"Even Rainbow Dash?"
"Oh, well, she personally didn't have much to say on the matter. The others did, though. They said its fine."
"Huh. Well, when did they want to meet?"
"They said come to any practice...you could come today if you wanted..."
You turn away. "Nah, I need...some time to think. I really appreciate you putting so much consideration into me, though."
"No problem...I'll let you go...I hope you feel better soon."
"Yeah. Thanks." You start walking away and Twilight heads back towards the school.
More bittersweet feelings. Cheerilee really seemed to be on the fence this time.
She didn't seem as dead set as she was before. Like she was unsure of her decision. You could wonder about that, but maybe it would be better for you if you just dropped her and took your mother's advice. Date women your age. Well...can't hurt, you guess.
The cool wind brushes past you, relaxing you a bit.
Its not all bad. You still got a chance with Twilight. And now you're having dinner with her on the weekend. You can't help but think that Velvet is trying to pair you up with her. Well, she must think you're a good match at least.
Its nice to have someone appreciate you for once. You continue down the side walk....
You pass house after house, getting closer to yours. You replay everything that happened after class over and over in your head, wondering about all the possibilities.
Trying to put it behind you and calm down, you approach your door and breathe in slowly. Then out. Okay, I'm just going to relax tonight.
Opening your front door, you walk inside to the calm quietness of your home.
Mom isn't home.
Great.
You kick off your shoes and throw off your backpack, not caring if they're just sitting mindlessly in front of the door.
You go to your room and throw yourself down onto the bed.
"Oof..." you say, laying down and letting your muscles relax.
You take another deep breath. Your thoughts start running through everything again.
Maybe you should steer clear of the library from now on, you figure. What could have been salvaged before that has now been demolished.
You and Twilight are going to need a new hangout spot if that's the case......Her house is basically a library already.
Maybe that would be a good spot. You wouldn't mind hanging around Velvet much either.
VRRRRRR
Shit.
You fumble through your pockets for your phone.
Where...
Ah.
You pull it out of your pocket.
New message: Twilight Sparkle
"Do you like Meatloaf?"
You smile at that. You text back.
"With lots of ketchup, sure."
She texts back,
"Ketchup! Got it!"
You laugh a little at her determination.
Setting your phone down, you lay back and relax.

Author's Note

And another chapter done on Hearth's Warming. Just in time for all you.
Sorry for those cherilee fans out there but what happens happens.
Happy Hearth's Warming!